Airliners-India

karatecatman

Sent by email

India's solitary aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, will turn 50 this year and the Navy plans a befitting celebration to mark the warship's golden jubilee.

"Yes, we intend to mark the golden jubilee of INS Viraat's naval service with celebrations planned for early part of this year," a Navy officer has said.

The celebrations would take place soon after the warship, which is currently docked at the Cochin Shipyard for repairs and maintenance, gets sailing again, he said.

On May 12 this year, INS Viraat would complete 23 years of its service with the Indian Navy. Taking into account its British Royal Navy service in its earlier avatar as HMS Hermes, the warship will complete 50 years on November 18 and hence the celebration.

The Indian Navy had acquired the Centaur Class aircraft carrier in 1987 from the British after it had served them for nearly 28 years (first inducted on November 18, 1959) and re-christened it as INS Viraat.

Consequently, the British Navy too would be requested to join the events to celebrate the warship that has served both countries so well.

In fact, after the current round of repairs, India is likely to make the aircraft carrier labour on till 2015.

By then, the 28,000-tonne warship would have completed 55 years of service, over twice and way beyond its estimated sailing life of 25 years.

***
www.hindu.com/2008/11/29/stories/2008112955730900.htm
India to send team to finalise Gorshkov price

NEW DELHI: In an effort to finalise the issues concerning Admiral Gorshkov, now called “INS Vikramaditya,” New Delhi will shortly send a team of price negotiators to Moscow.

The aircraft carrier’s purchase ran into rough weather after India signed the deal in 2004 at an originally contracted price of $1.5 billion for its refit and modernisation.

Delivery has been delayed from the scheduled year of 2008 and recent reports indicate that the Russians want an additional $2 billion. The delivery is now expected to take place in 2012.

Authoritative sources told The Hindu that the government had formed a team to visit Russia. This would be followed by another visit by senior officials to finalise the delivery time.

The previous National Democratic Alliance government conducted the negotiations and refurbishment of the 44,570-tonne Gorshkov ran into difficulties after it was discovered that its modernisation bill was underestimated.

While Russia removed the chief of the shipyard where Gorshkov is being refurbished, India resigned itself to re-negotiating the additional cost as it had made an advance payment and there was no comparable alternative.

Gorshkov is meant to replace India’s sole ageing aircraft carrier INS Viraat. The likely delay of four years means the Navy will have to strain every sinew to keep it in working condition till the arrival of INS Vikramaditya.

Original negotiations dragged on for several years, with the Navy once expressing its apprehension that if INS Viraat is decommissioned and another carrier is not inducted, it will lose aircraft carrier handling skills.
_________________

एअर इंडिया AIR INDIA Fly DVD --- Desh VIDESH Desh

karatecatman · Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 3:51 pm Post subject:

INS Viraat refit complete, gears up for golden jubilee
By Ritu Sharma

New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) It’s an old warhorse, 50 years old to be exact. But after a life-extending refit, India’s lone aircraft carrier INS Viraat is back to show it still has enough steam to give the jitters to the enemy.
INS Viraat, meaning giant in Sanskrit and which has a crew of 1,500 personnel, has been docked at Cochin Shipyard Ltd for the past year for repair and maintenance. The refit will increase the aircraft carrier’s sea life with the Indian Navy till 2015.
‘‘The refit of the aircraft carrier has been completed. Currently it is floating (in the docks),’’ a senior official at the shipyard told IANS requesting anonymity. ‘‘By the beginning of next month, it is expected to go to its parent base at Mumbai in the Western Naval Command.’’
And it will be received with a great bang. A golden jubilee celebration for completing 50 years of service.
The 28,000-tonne INS Viraat, the Centaur class aircraft carrier, was originally commissioned in the British Royal Navy as HMS Hermes Nov 18, 1959. The Indian Navy acquired the platform in 1987 after it had served the Royal Navy for nearly 28 years.
An extensive refit - with brand new fire control equipment, navigation radars, improved nuclear, biological and chemical protection and deck landing aids - increased the life of the vessel into the next decade.
In September 1993, the engine room of Viraat was flooded, temporarily putting the vessel out of service. By 1995, the vessel was back with a new search radar.
Apart from some major and minor refits at different times, including one in 2006, INS Viraat underwent an extensive life-extension refit in 1999-2000, with new and upgraded propulsion, sensors, sonar, radars, weapons, communication and flood-control systems.
A Royal Navy team will also attend the golden jubilee celebrations of Viraat.
The aircraft carrier gives the Indian Navy an edge over the Chinese navy, which does not have one.
The Indian Navy will get its second aircraft carrier - the Russian-built Admiral Gorshkov - which is expected to be inducted by 2012.
INS Viraat is pivotal to the navy’s aim to project its naval and air power beyond its borders. It provides operation ground for Sea Harrier combat jets. It can embark up to 18 combat aircraft and is suited for supporting amphibious operations and conducting anti-submarine warfare.
Gorshkov, on the other hand, will operate 16 MiG-29 K fighter jets. The two aircraft carriers will increase the reach of the India’s blue water navy.
India earlier this year laid the keel for its indigenous 37,500-tonne aircraft carrier at the Cochin Shipyard. The carrier would be inducted by 2015.
On July 26, India launched into the waters its first indigenous nuclear-powered attack submarine, built under the Advanced Technology Vessel project with Russian help. Once this vessel, INS Arihant, is commissioned around 2012, India will become only the sixth country after the US, Russia, China, France and Britain to possess a nuclear-powered submarine.

Smile

***
Aircraft carriers --- comparison

Copyright

Copyright

***

http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic7655.html
INS Vikrant makeover soon: Government
_________________

एअर इंडिया AIR INDIA Fly DVD --- Desh VIDESH Desh

karatecatman · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:52 pm Post subject:

Viraat to be back in action in a week
Rajat Pandit
November 1, 2009

NEW DELHI: The ‘mother’ will be back in action soon. With power projection being the name of the game, India is finally ready to once again deploy its solitary aircraft carrier INS Viraat on the high seas after an almost two-year gap.

INS Viraat is now on the verge of completing its ‘sea-acceptance trials’ and ‘work-up phase’ off Mumbai after an 18-month-long comprehensive refit in Mumbai and Kochi to increase its longevity as well as upgrade its weapon and sensor packages.

Coincidentally enough, the 28,000-tonne old warhorse will also be completing its 50th year as an operational warship this November. Originally commissioned in the British Royal Navy as HMS Hermes in November 1959, it was inducted into the Indian Navy in May 1987.

‘‘Even British officers, who have served on her, are stunned we have managed to prolong its operational life so much. After this refit, it will serve us for at least five years more. It should be ‘full-ops’ in a week or so,’’ said a senior officer.

While Navy is justifiably proud of getting INS Viraat back in action, it’s a telling comment on the Indian defence establishment’s utter lack of long-term strategic planning to build military capabilities in tune with the country’s geopolitical objectives. An aircraft carrier prowling on the high seas, with its accompanying fighter jets tearing into the skies from the mobile airstrip, after all, projects power like nothing else.

US, on its part, has 11 carrier strike groups deployed across the globe to rule the seas. China, in turn, is actively scrambling to get carriers of its own in keeping with its big superpower aspirations. Successive Indian governments, however, been quite apathetic to Navy’s quest to have three aircraft carriers — one each for the eastern and western seaboards, while the third undergoes repairs — to protect the country’s ‘primary area of geopolitical interest’ stretching from Hormuz Strait to Malacca Strait.

The long-delayed 40,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) being built at Cochin Shipyard, for one, will be ready only by 2015. For another, India will get the refurbished 44,570-tonne Admiral Gorshkov, undergoing a refit at the Sevmash Shipyard in North Russia, only by early-2013 now. India and Russia, of course, are still bitterly negotiating Gorshkov’s final refit cost, with the price likely to settle upwards of $ 2.5-billion. There is another big worry for Navy. INS Viraat may be all set to resume duties but it’s left with only 11 Sea Harrier jump-jets to operate from its deck.

From 1983 onwards, Navy had inducted 30 of the British-origin Sea Harriers, which take off from the angled ski-jump on INS Viraat and land vertically on its deck, but has lost over half of them in accidents. Be that as it may, the 13-storey high INS Viraat will soldier on — with its motto of Jalamev Yasya, Balamev Tasya (he who controls the sea is all powerful) — for the foreseeable future.

Great news. Best wishes.
_________________

एअर इंडिया AIR INDIA Fly DVD --- Desh VIDESH Desh

karatecatman · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 11:09 pm Post subject:

New Delhi, Nov.16
ANI:

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma will be visiting the Western Naval Command from November 17 to November 19.

The Western Naval Command is one of the two Operational Commands of the Navy and is headquartered at Mumbai.

It exercises control over ships, submarines, aircraft and shore establishments located on the west coast.

During his visit, Admiral Verma would review the operational readiness of the command, including the preparedness of coastal security. He will also assess its combat readiness.

During the sortie CNS would witness fleet exercises, gun and missile firings by ships and aircraft as also observe aircraft operations from Viraat, which has rejoined the fleet after an extensive maintenance period.

Ships and aircraft of the Western Naval Command have been regularly deployed for coastal security tasking in close coordination with other central and state agencies during the past year.

A joint operations centre has been set up at Mumbai to monitor and coordinate coastal security.

Security exercises along with public awareness campaigns have tremendously improved understanding amongst central and state agencies as well as the residents of coastal areas particularly the fishing community.

The integration of the newly raised Marine Police force with the other security agencies has been encouraging.

Admiral Verma will also be reviewing coastal security arrangements during his visit.
_________________

एअर इंडिया AIR INDIA Fly DVD --- Desh VIDESH Desh